I was explaining to someone a few months ago that I was in chemotherapy and she looked in confusion at my five-month-old in the stroller right next to us. “But you have a baby!” I know, I …
What I’ve Learned from My Cancer Diagnosis
I was 39 weeks pregnant when I was diagnosed with breast cancer last October. I’m not sure what (or who) exactly caused me to ask my nurse-practitioner to do a breast …
Have You Affirmed Your Family Today?
Last week at dinner my younger son casually turned to me and said, “These are the things I like about you, Mommy, that you play Legos with me, that you play puppies with me, that you hug me and that …
Mom of Boys and. . .
I often tweet with the hashtag #momofboys. I’ve realized over the past (almost) nine years of being a mom of one and then two boys how much a part of my identity this has become. I think of myself as …
Three Ways to Listen Better to God
My church recently held an all-night prayer vigil. Each of us could sign up for a half-hour (or longer) shift. I was lucky enough to get the very decent 9 a.m. shift and arrived in the little chapel …
How to Help a Depressed New Mom
I’ll just come out with it: I’m an eavesdropper. I love to write and edit in coffee shops, partly because I can’t procrastinate by doing laundry and partly because I love to hear the snippets of …
Driving Like a Christian
Today I actually stuck out my tongue at another driver. He blew around me and then cut into my lane, and I was so annoyed that’s how I responded. It could have been worse, I know, but …
Confessions of a Soccer Mom
Over Thanksgiving weekend we all got up crazy early, not to engage in Black Friday shopping, but to drive my son many miles away to a Thanksgiving soccer tournament. Such a practice was not …
A New Twist on the Advent Calendar: Celebrating as a Family
Most of my life I've lived in places where the passage of time was marked by the changing of the seasons. As the weather grew warmer and wetter, I would look forward to the flowers and lengthening …
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A Real-Life Proverbs 31 Woman
Last week I received the sudden news that my grandmother was gone. It’s hard to explain to those who didn’t know her what a shock it was to hear of her death, since she was almost 91. My grandma …
Digital Detox: Four Ways to Stay Unplugged at Home
My last post was about our week away from technology at my husband's family cabin and how much we appreciated the silence and a change to do a little bit of digital detox. And then we came back …
Are You (And Your Kids) Looking for Silence?
A couple of weeks ago, I was on carpool duty for summer camp. So I had my 7-year-old son, my 4-year-old son, and then two spare 7-year old boys in the back of my car as we drove to pirate camp. One, …
The Love Lives of Navy SEALs and Why It’s So Hard to Write in the Summer
For those of you who think that fiction writers just make it all up, I'd love to tell you about my friend Michelle Ule! She is always researching fascinating subjects--everything from Navy SEALs to …
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The Joy of Parenting
I've seen A LOT of Shamu shows. Living as we do in San Diego, we often find ourselves stopping in at Sea World to feed the seals and sea lions, check out the sharks, and of course, see the …
Five Tips for Flying with Small Children
We live in San Diego, and my parents live in the St. Louis area, so ever since I became a mom, I’ve racked up quite a few frequent flier miles just going back and forth. We even fly up to visit my …
Your Own Personal Stylist (for way cheap)
My latest book, Mom Seeks God, came out in April and it's been an amazing wild ride. Busy and fun and yes, a little bit stressful. I had a dream the other night that my publisher called me and …
Three Goals for a Simpler Summer
School ended on Friday, and we are now officially on summer vacation, as my 4-year-old keeps excitedly reminding us. We celebrated with a family trip to the drive-in to see How To Train Your …
Why Writing about My Family Makes Me a Better Mom
I recently saw the new movie Mom’s Night Out and loved it. Very funny and a great expression of what so many moms struggle with—the meaning of all the stuff we do, the way we feel that we’re not very …
A Story Unfinished
Matt Mooney's powerful book A Story Unfinished: 99 Days with Eliot is the kind of book parents like me don't really want to read. It's blunt and honest and covers ground most of us don't even want to …
Moving Past “Good Enough”
Last month the first grade project was building a diorama to display an animal of the student's choice. My son came home all fired up to get started, and after I got him a shoebox, he pretty much went …
